


Don't Sweat It

by SmilingNerdyCat (orphan_account)



Series: Don't Sweat It [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Bisexual Harry Potter, Cannon Divergence, Gay Panic, Gay Ron Weasley, Hogwarts Fifth Year, Knitting, M/M, Second War with Voldemort, Supportive Ginny Weasley, but it doesn't really affect the overarching plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23704318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/SmilingNerdyCat
Summary: Ron gets into knitting as a stress reliever as he worries over his closest friend. As a way to keep him in mind (even though he's there all the time anyway), he begins knitting a sweater for him.They grow closer together in the next few months and begin spending a lot of time together. Ron takes a while, but eventually he realizes that his feelings are a bit more than just a close friend.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ron Weasley, Molly Weasley & Ron Weasley (minor)
Series: Don't Sweat It [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1724143
Comments: 5
Kudos: 58





	1. Summer

Ron first tried knitting the summer before fifth year. Ginny, Fred, and George were up to some manner of mischief in the garden, but Ron had opted to sit inside for a while. His mum was in the room with him, already beginning her Christmas sweaters. Ron had been up quite late the night before, and he could barely concentrate. He considered a nap but decided against it to try to get a bit of his summer assignments done. Despite what some annoying witches may think, he did actually care about his classes. His tired eyes, however, did not, and he hadn’t looked at the book on his lap for a good fifteen minutes. 

Harry was the only thing on his mind at the moment. How could the Order expect him to barely write after everything that happened in June? Ron was sure that there was no way Harry’s awful relatives would be doing any comforting. And the letters they had sent were not...reassuring. Harry would be so vague, but from what little he did say, he didn’t seem well. 

While his thoughts sprinted around his mind, Ron was drawn out of himself by the speed and agility with which his mother moved her knitting needles. Her movements were so nimble, it was hard to even see the individual strokes. This was the most relaxed he had seen his mother all day--all summer, if he’s honest. Between having everyone around and the general stress of the war, Molly had scarcely looked calm since June. He stared at his mother’s hands for nearly fifteen minutes, totally transfixed. 

“Mum, if you’re not busy, would you mind...er, I was wondering if...could you maybe show me how to do that?” he said.

“You want to learn to knit?” Molly raised her eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, it, er, it seems relaxing.”

“Yes, it is...I’d love to show you, dear. Come here.” Ron got up from the armchair to come closer to his mom on the sofa. She leaned around him and put the needles in his hands. 

“So, first off, you’ll need to hold your wrists like this. No that’s all wrong, it’s more this way…”

***

Molly was right, knitting is definitely relaxing. Ron spent so much of the next few weeks of summer knitting that he got toned wrists. Fred and George teased him mercilessly for it, but Ginny seemed to think that it was sweet. He didn’t really mind his family finding out about it; what could they really say with Mum in the room?

He began to get a bit more self conscious when Hermione came to Grimmauld for the summer. Ron found it equally likely that she would think it a ridiculous waste of time and that she would be proud of him for learning a new, useful, and relaxing skill. So he hid it. He stopped knitting in the living room and moved his project upstairs. 

Ron was up late one night with his project. He was still a bit clumsy, but he was working away on a pair of socks for someone--maybe Ginny would like them. But he was barely paying any conscious attention to his project at this point. His mind was on Harry. His last letter was particularly disturbing. Harry had made a few offhand comments about his uncle and how angry he would get. Harry hadn’t really said there was a problem, but would he if there were? 

A knock on his bedroom door. “Ron, are you awake?” Hermione whispered. 

“Yeah, why?”

“Can we, like, have a chat or something?”

“‘Course. Come in.” He scooted over to the side of his bed to make room for her. He carefully tucked his knitting into the corner, out of sight.

She opened the door and sat down next to him. Her gaze lingered on the empty bed intended for Harry.

“Are you thinking about him too?”

She paused for a moment before saying, “Are you worried?”

“Yes.”

“Me, too.”

They just sat together in silence for a while, both too caught up in their own heads to deal with a conversation. 

***

Ron rapped loudly on his sister’s bedroom door. “OI, GINNY, HAVE BEEN IN MY ROOM?”

“Ron, could you be any louder?” Hermione scolded as she yanked open the door. 

“I can’t find something and I want to know if Gin’s been through my stuff.”

“What are you even looking for?”

Ron shifted his weight from foot to foot and mumbled something to himself under his breath. “I’ve been, er--I’ve been knitting, and I don’t want Ginny messing with it.” 

He spoke quietly for once in his life, and this made Hermione a bit suspicious. 

“Where’d you learn that?”

“Mum.”

“Ah, well, Ginny’s downstairs, but I doubt she was in there. She’s been with Fred and George all day.”

“Is that supposed to reassure me?”

“I’ll help you look. Come on, we’d better find it before dinner.”


	2. a disappointed update from the author

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> basically, you're not going to see another chapter for a while.

um..hello everyone, 

it's fran, the esteemed (lol no) author. i'm adding this to let you know that i will not be updating this fic for a while. normally i have the whole story planned out better before posting something like this, but the instant gratification monkey told me to publish a first draft, and here we are. this was supposed to be a quick two shot, but uh...i've written like 10k and they just got to hogwarts, so that's gone out the window. i'm gonna close this fic, but when i finally actually post this story i'll add it to the series, so if you care, you can subscribe to that. 

i hope you're physically safe/healthy and that you're doing okay mentally. 

best wishes,  
fran

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked it!


End file.
